The Crypt (32 page)

With the last of her strength she removed her shirt and let the kevlar vest fall from her body. The cold on her exposed skin chilled her further.

Am I dying? Is this how death touches us with its cold fingers?

She couldn’t tell if she was sinking anymore or rising toward the surface. All she knew was that she was moving fast with the current.

Something brushed against her butt. She turned to look but couldn’t see anything in the dark water of the river. Her lungs announced their capacity had been reached. Her chest heaved, the pain immeasurable.

Her arms flailed. She wanted to scream at the unfairness. She wanted to scream for Vivian. She just wanted to scream but opening her mouth was a temptation she couldn’t afford. If she opened her mouth, water would fill it and she’d inhale as her lungs were demanding.

Was this why Vivian apologized?

Something brushed her again as consciousness wavered.

In her foggy mind she realized it was weeds brushing her as she traveled past them.

Maybe she was near the shore?

Panic set in. Her lungs shouted at her. The pain from where the bullets hit her dulled a little as a new pain increased. Lack of oxygen attacked her like no other assailant in her life had.

Sarah fought with all she had left.

There was a light above her.
A streetlight?

She fought for it, arms pinwheeling. Her own voice screamed inside her head. She would not open her mouth.

A thick weed caressed her arm. She grabbed at it and held on.

Her feet touched mud.

She opened her mouth and let her lungs evacuate. On the inhale her face broke the surface. She pushed with her feet and landed half in, half out of the Danube River on the Slovakia side.

When she hit the mud on the shore, her body was still underwater up to her shoulder blades.

It was there she passed out.

Chapter 30

Vivian stood beside her. Sarah knew it was her sister. She could tell. The similarities were too close.

Am I dead?
she asked.

Vivian shook her head.
We’ve come a long way you and I. Even though we didn’t get to spend a lot of time together when I was alive, I miss you. You are what I would’ve always wanted to be. Strong, courageous and brave.

Sarah leaned up and stared at her.
And here I’m the one respecting you and what you do to help people out of car accidents and burning buildings.

Sarah, if I could’ve only been half the woman you’ve turned out to be I could’ve saved myself that day. Girls don’t understand. They think the guy will let them go. They play nice because they
are
nice. They blame themselves. Not you, Sarah. You deal with it and make the assholes pay. I love you for that Sarah. I love you.

Vivian, I asked you if I was dead. You didn’t answer me. Am I?

Vivian shook her head.
Not yet. It’s not your time. We have work to do. Parkman is on his way.

Parkman! He’s alive?

Vivian nodded.
And so are you. I have to go now Sarah. Be well. Take care. I’ve got a message for you about Drake Bellamy. He needs you. Head to Toronto. Armond is dead but it’s not over. Are you okay with that?

Sarah looked at her sister and wondered what life would’ve been growing up with her. She longed to play games with her, talk about boys and do what sisters do. Because of Armond and people like him they never got that chance.

Vivian seemed to be floating. Her hair fell in golden locks, her smile a caress of light, her eyes a brilliance of love.

I’m okay with whatever you throw at me sis. I love you. Let’s do this together. You and me.

Gotta go now. Love you too.

Something hit her face hard.

“Sarah, wake up!”

Parkman.

She rose from a deep place. It felt like she was swimming from the bottom of the Danube River again.

“Sarah!” It sounded like Parkman was crying.

“Wha…” was all she could say. Pain ripped through her as she coughed up water.

“Oh, Sarah.”

More water came out. After too many pain-wracked coughs she curled into a ball and began moaning.

“We need to get to dat cho…er,” Parkman said. He was talking weird. His
that
was pronounced
dat.

She opened her eyes and saw his face.

“Parkman, you’re alive,” she coughed. “Shit. That fucking hurts.” She looked up at him again. “Your face is fucked.”

“I know, I know. Get up. No more fucking around. We have a cho…er to catch. And what happened to your shirt? Why are you swimming in your bra?”

She didn’t answer his question. It was too painful to talk that much. After pulling her shirt off to remove the kevlar vest she had lost it in the river’s current.

Sarah did her best to get to her feet with Parkman’s help.

They walked up the embankment. Parkman had brought one of the police cars.

“What happened to you?” Sarah managed to ask.

He was helping her into the passenger seat when he said, “After putting on the vest you gave me I got out and crawled under the car. I was in no position to fight. I waited there until it was quiet. After crawling back out, I saw Bennett take you over the hill. I went to follow but then Rod came running out of the church. He started firing his weapon at you two. I saw Bennett hit the boat and you hit the water. I would’ve killed Rod but I was unarmed so I ran back for the car and here I am.”

He slammed her door shut and ran around to the driver’s side. After getting in he said, “I thought you were dead.”

“I was.”

He looked at her sharply.

“I saw Vivian. She looked amazing. We talked. We need to go to Canada.”

“First things first. We need to get to that chopper. Rod thinks he killed you. He’s down at the edge of the Danube River where he saw you go in. Let’s get you out of here before he confirms otherwise.”

Parkman threw the car into gear and raced out to the helipad. Within fifteen minutes they were in the helicopter. The pilot took some convincing, but he lifted off knowing that no one else was coming.

After fifteen minutes in the air, Sarah was shivering from the cold. Parkman had wrapped his shirt around her exposed shoulders. She looked at him and shouted over the noise the rotors made, “I love you Parkman.”

He leaned forward, reached into his back pocket and produced a small plastic container. After flipping it open he pulled out a toothpick and placed it in his mouth.

“Cinnamon flavored. No more running out for this guy. I’m packing,” he said and slapped the container.

Sarah leaned back, exhausted.

“Oh, and Sarah?”

She looked at him, her eyes half-lidded.

“I love you too.”

The Hostage - A Preview

An excerpt from The Hostage, the fourth book in the Sarah Roberts series.

Chapter 1

Sarah Roberts wondered if intent mattered. Could murder be justified?

She rested her head back on the seat and contemplated what her life had become — debating the senseless murder of Drake Bellamy and thinking about her dead sister. What caused Vivian to stay in touch?

After she stopped Drake’s planned murder, would she be able to find out why Drake was targeted? All the key players were already dead. There had to be a reason other than just murder.

Turbulence snapped Sarah out of her thoughts as the KLM Boeing 747-400 shook. They dropped through the clouds as she rubbed her stomach. The plane’s in-flight meal hadn’t sat well.

The ground took shape below, Toronto sprawling to all points on the compass except where Lake Ontario touched its southern shore.

The lake had the look of an ocean due to its massive size. From where she sat, a few thousand feet in the air, the lake stopped at the horizon. The United States couldn’t be seen on the other side.

The lone male passenger beside her had slept most of the flight, but was waking now. She had the window seat in a row of three. An empty chair separated the man who had introduced himself as Dave when they’d first sat down. Heading home to a funeral, he’d said. How sad.

A commotion started in front of her seat. The couple in the next row were arguing. She looked at Dave and smiled at the tension in the seats ahead. Then she heard the woman gasp. Sarah looked out the window again but only saw the sprawling city and the massive lake. She’d never been to Toronto, but she’d seen pictures, so she had an idea of what to expect. She scanned the downtown area, but for all her effort, she couldn’t locate the CN Tower, one of Toronto’s landmark tourist attractions.

Something’s wrong. That’s why they’re arguing.

Her stomach dropped.

What now?

She looked at the man beside her again. He seemed disinterested in the people ahead of them as they grew more and more animated.

A beep resounded throughout the aircraft, signaling everyone to fasten their seat belts. Sarah already had hers on. She looked out the window again as they got closer to the ground.

“This is your captain speaking. Good afternoon. We’ll be landing in Toronto to moderate winds, with a light cloud cover and a temperature of twenty-eight degrees Celsius. We’re slightly ahead of schedule as we had a tailwind. We’ll be landing fifteen minutes early. The cabin crew and myself would like to thank you for flying KLM flight 487B and wish you safe travels wherever your final destination may be. Cabin crew, take your seats for landing.”

Sarah stared out the window as the city drew closer. No CN Tower. Nothing recognizable. Weird.

Toronto’s big. Maybe it’s in another part.

The couple in the seats in front of her grew louder. The man pushed the flight attendant button.

Sarah tapped the back of their seat and leaned forward.

“Is everything okay?” she asked. “Now that we’re preparing to land, I don’t think any flight attendant’s will come.”

Both of them turned and looked at her through the gap in the seat.

“That’s not Toronto below us,” the male said. “Something’s wrong. We’re landing in Chicago. That lake down there is Lake Michigan, not Lake Ontario.”

“What?” Sarah couldn’t believe it. They had to be making a mistake. “Are you sure? The captain just announced that we were landing in Toronto.”

“I’m absolutely sure. I used to live there. This is Chicago. No doubt about it.”

“But why? There’s no layover booked there. Let me check my boarding pass.”

Sarah reached in her carryon bag and grabbed her boarding pass, already knowing she wouldn’t see the name Chicago on it. It said KLM, flight 487B, her seat number and the destination: Toronto. She had to be in Toronto by Wednesday to stop Drake Bellamy’s murder. If she was on the wrong flight, she had no idea how fast she could make new plans.

“What do your boarding passes say?” she asked.

“According to this we’re on a flight to Toronto. It doesn’t make any sense, because that’s Chicago below us.”

Sarah turned to her right. Dave, the man sitting one seat over, had a stupid smile on his face.

“Have you checked your boarding pass?”

He shook his head in the negative, but didn’t say anything.

“Why are you smiling?” Sarah asked. “Do you find something amusing?”

Dave opened the right side of his jacket far enough to show Sarah his weapon.

“I’m an air marshal. The penalties and jail time can be severe for cases of air rage, so I suggest you sit back and relax. Don’t do anything stupid. No more disturbing the other passengers. No more questions. There’s nowhere you can go, nothing you can do. Stay calm. Everything will be explained when we land.”

Sarah stared at him, open-mouthed. “Tell me you’re joking, please, because showing me your gun like that is what I consider to be a threat. I’ve done nothing wrong on this flight. I’ve not been arrested and I’m definitely not your prisoner. So, tell me you’re joking, because if you aren’t, we are going to have a problem. A serious fucking problem.”

The air marshal undid his seat belt and stood up in the aisle. He looked toward the back of the plane and nodded his head. He turned forward and repeated the same nod.

Two men walked toward Dave along the aisle.

Dave turned to the passengers watching him from their seats when his backup arrived.

“May I have your attention, please? My name is Dave Ingram. I am an air marshal. These men are also marshals. We have a temporary situation that you needn’t be alarmed with. This plane is landing in Chicago and then it will be heading to Toronto as planned. You may be a little late getting to your final destination and we’re sorry for that inconvenience, but we have a passenger here that needs to be detained. Stay calm. We’ll be on the ground in moments.”